These came from the same slide collection as yesterday’s image. I’d never seen anything like this first one before:
Um, what? This makes no sense. I mean, forget the hedge where there shouldn’t be a hedge, what’s up with those oak leaves where I wasn’t expecting an oak tree? And here’s another puzzler:
Bushes trimmed into round balls? Where the hell am I?
Well, I can only conclude that it must be the 1970s. This is confirmed by another picture from the same group, itself a gorgeous image of something that was almost never photographed. Take a look (at the license plate, not the legs):
Careful study of an aerial shot taken to document the rise of Sewall Hall in 1970 reveals that both pictures were taken from very close to the front of Fondren, where a long hedge crossed the entire width of the quad and ended in a series of round hedges near where the Humanities building is today. Nice big oak trees, too, some of which are still there, although not the one visible in the first photo above:
Note: I’m headed out of town for a few days. I’ll probably keep posting as usual in order to avoid the gnawing sense of incompleteness that inevitably follows when I don’t. But you never know, I might take a day off.
Bonus: Space age soft drink machine in the newly remodeled (not yet open) Sammy’s.
